Meals on Wheels of Lancaster recently acquired a brand-new van to help deliver its ready-to-eat meals to about 450 people, with an average age of 78. The van was largely paid for with a $70,000 donation by Lancaster Sunrise Rotary.

Each morning, Monday through Friday, Meals on Wheels prepares a set of two meals - a cold bagged lunch and a hot supper tray - in its kitchens on Columbia Avenue. Seventy volunteers use their own cars to collect the meals from there or three additional pickup points in New Holland, Christiana and Paradise. Then they deliver the meals, many tailored to clients' dietary needs, around the county.

The delivery van was needed to transfer 150 of the daily sets of meals from the Columbia Avenue kitchens to the three additional pickup points.

The Chevrolet City Express is a cargo van that has been fitted with heated and refrigerated compartments so food can be kept at the correct temperature during its travels.

The new van replaces one that had a lot of deficiencies as far as regulating food temperature. It also was limited in the number of meals it could carry.

Lancaster Sunrise Rotary president Pat Savage says the $70,000 van donation was raised during the club's 2022 Fall Fest Fundraiser at Aberdeen Acres in Elizabethtown.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the delivery van took place on Nov. 14 at Meals on Wheels of Lancaster's central office, 1411 Columbia Ave., Lancaster.

Lancaster Sunrise Rotary meets from 7:15 to 8:30 a.m. on Thursdays in person at Bent Creek Country Club, 620 Bent Creek Drive, Lititz, and via Zoom video conferencing. Anyone wishing to attend should email Sunrise Rotary president Pat Savage at lancpasunriserotary@gmail.com for an invitation. New members are always welcome. For more details, visit www.lancastersunriserotaryofpa.com.